On Thin Ice
by lost-in-arendelle
Summary: When words and kisses won't convince Anna that Kristoff is devoted to her, he agrees to her pleas to spend a day ice harvesting with him. When Anna's stubbornness and determination get the better of her and an accident on the ice forces Kristoff to face his feelings and worst fears, will they come out broken or stronger than ever in the end?


"But why?" Kristoff asked.

Anna grabbed her skirts and jogged to keep up with him. He smiled as she chased him, not ready to let her win just yet.

"Because I want to, of course!"

Kristoff stopped in the castle corridor and turned towards her. Checking for servants, he looked to his right and left before drawing her into his arms. Grinning down at her, he pulled her against his chest and buried his nose in her hair. She smelled so good, like flowers he couldn't name and fresh air and _Anna_.

"You would hate it," he said, his voice as affectionate as the caress of his fingers on her scalp.

"That's where you're wrong."

He couldn't see it, but he could imagine her bottom lip sticking out and her chin tilting up, and he tried not to chuckle. He knew she was at her most earnest, but he found her stubbornness endearing, and, well, though he'd never admit it out loud, _cute_.

"Ice harvesting is long, hard, tiring work," he said. "And cold. Did I mention how cold it is?"

Anna shrugged in his arms.

"The cold never bothered me anyway," she said flippantly.

He snorted.

"That's your sister's line, not yours." He nuzzled her temple, breathing in her warmth. "_You_ like fireplaces and melted chocolate with milk and blankets that wrap around you three times."

Anna made a disgruntled noise, but she didn't pull away.

"You make me sound so soft."

"Mmm." This time, he did chuckle as he kissed his way down the side of her jaw. "That's because you are soft. Especially right... _here_." He blew on the place just behind her ear that always made her shudder.

"You're not playing fair," she said, leaning back to fuss with his collar. When she looked up at his face, her lips quirked and her cheeks flushed. Clearly, she liked his tactics as much as he did. But he knew Anna well enough to know that distractions never worked for long.

Sure enough, she poked him in the ribs a moment later.

"I want to come with you."

He sighed and leaned back against the wall.

"Why is it so important to you? I've told you that you won't like it."

Anna lowered her eyes.

"I want to see what you do," she said. "I want to understand you better."

"You understand me better than anyone in the world," he insisted. "Even Sven."

"I just-" She hesitated and pressed her hands together, fidgeting as she often did when she was nervous. "I sat next to this countess at supper last night, and _she_ said that couples who work together and know everything there is to know about each other stay together the longest."

"I'm not sure she meant that literally."

Anna started pacing, making hand gestures, clearly not listening to a word he said. Kristoff smiled and crossed his arms, watching her patiently. He knew she'd talk through her feelings eventually, she always did.

"And I thought, sure, that makes sense," she said, shrugging as she walked. "I didn't know Hans at all, and our relationship lasted for two days."

"There was that crazy, deceitful plan to steal the kingdom…" he said, but she still wasn't listening.

"But you, you're _the one_, you know?"

He nodded, resisting the urge to grab and kiss her senseless. When she casually tossed off such monumental words, his emotions never failed to seize in his chest and he couldn't form the right words to tell her how _much_ he felt. His only hope was to show her.

"And I want our relationship to last forever," she continued, "but that means I need to know everything I possibly can about you, or you won't love-"

"_Anna_." He reached for her and dragged both of her hands to his mouth. He kissed her knuckles until she quieted, but her face remained pinched with worry. "You know me," he said gently. "We've talked about this- you and me, it's-" He shrugged and squeezed her hands, as if that could express the intensity of his feelings, "_we're_ different. We're not like you and Hans. You don't need to worry."

"But-"

"I mean it." He cupped her cheeks in his palms. "There is nothing you could tell me, nothing I could learn, no secret big enough to make me love you less."

"But-"

Words didn't matter, the worry was still there, written all over her face. Lately, he'd begun to wonder if all this insecurity was Elsa's fault. If she hadn't shut her sister out without explanation when they were younger, Kristoff didn't believe Anna would be so worried about him abandoning her now.

"Fine," he said. "If it really means that much to you, you can come ice harvesting tomorrow."

"Thank you!" She flung her arms around his neck.

"You're welcome," he said, kissing her shoulder. "Wear something warm." He hoped he wasn't making a huge mistake.

Kristoff hated this already. Every man on the ice was staring at Anna. It shouldn't have surprised him, she was one of the mysterious princesses, after all… and stunningly beautiful… and so friendly… and her smile could melt a sled-load of ice. He groaned. This was going to be a long, long day.

She was holding his hand, his whole arm, actually, beaming up at him from her emerald green cloak as they walked towards the men. Her excitement was obvious, and the way she looked at him, as if she was proud to be with him- it made his breath catch and he stumbled over his own feet. Before they reached the others, he leaned down to whisper in her ear.

"I love you."

She stood up on her toes and kissed him right there on the ice. When she pulled away and discovered two dozen ice harvesters staring at them, she giggled into her mittened hand.

"And I love you," she said, still laughing, as Kristoff's face turned redder than the sash at his waist. He was never going to hear the end of this, but it was worth it.

Eirik wedged his pickaxe beneath an ice block and headed towards them.

"Who's that?" Anna whispered.

"Eirik. He's my age." He pointed to another man, slightly shorter and stouter. "And that's Jens. The three of us have trained and worked together since we were ten years old." He folded his arms and smirked. "Don't believe anything they say about me."

"Good morning," Eirik said. He swept into a bow that made Kristoff's eyebrows rise. He didn't know Eirik knew _how_ to bow. "You must be Princess Anna." He winked and kissed her mitten. "No one else could be so beautiful.

"_Eirik-_" Kristoff said through gritted teeth.

"Or so willing to look past appearances and find something to love in our Kristoff." He grinned, unmoved, as Kristoff scowled at him. "You are enchanting, Princess Anna."

"_You're married._"

"But not blind." Eirik finally relinquished Anna's hand. He leaned towards her conspiratorially. "He really is the easiest person to tease. Would you like to hear about the time Jens and I-"

"Come on," Kristoff grumbled, tugging Anna away from Eirik. "You said you wanted to see what ice harvesting is like, I'll show you."

He didn't get very far. Everyone wanted to meet Anna. By the time each ice harvester had introduced himself and made his own snide remark about the unlikelihood of a princess falling in love with Kristoff, he was feeling as grumpy as they'd described him and Anna kept rubbing her hands together to keep warm. He liked having her beside him, but he frowned when he noticed how empty Eirik and Jens's sled was compared to the other ice harvesters'. If Anna hadn't come with him today, he would have been helping them for hours now.

"I'm not pulling my weight," he said once he and Anna found a moment alone. He gestured to Eirik and Jens. "I need to help them catch up, or none of us will make much money today."

"I'll help, too," Anna said. "It's my fault that you weren't with them." Despite the cold, she pushed her cloak back from her shoulders and picked up a heavy saw. The serrated blade dragged across the ice with a long scratch. They both winced. "Oh. That- that never happened." She tilted her chin up and fought to raise the saw higher. "Almost got it. Hang on. You- you just tell me what to do."

Kristoff smiled and shook his head.

"You're going to hurt yourself."

"Am." She bit her lip and tried to drive the saw into the ice. "Not."

He walked behind her and folded his hands over hers. Together, they broke the ice with the saw while Eirik and Jens looked on, amused. Within minutes, Anna was panting and bemoaning her sore arms.

"You were right," she said, rubbing circles into her back with her thumbs. "This… is… tiring."

"You can watch from the sled," Kristoff said. "It's okay. It takes years for us to build up enough strength to do this. No one expects you to-"

"No, no." She bit her lip and marched to the pickaxes. "I'll do this instead." She waved him back towards Jens, who waited with the saws for Kristoff's help. "Go back to Jens. I'll be just fine."

Kristoff arched an eyebrow.

"Be careful," he said. "And stay away from areas that have already been cut. Please."

Anna nodded. She hoisted the pickaxe over her shoulder and tried to swing it down into the ice block. It swung her backwards instead.

"Oh. Well, hmm." She let the pickaxe thump to the ice and shook her hands with a wince. Kristoff knew that expression, he'd worn it enough times when he was younger. It said without words that the pickaxe handle had rubbed her skin raw.

"Anna-"

She sighed.

"That's not so easy either."

"I warned you, it's-"

"No, no." She gestured towards Jens again. "Go help your friends. I'll- I'll make myself useful."

But Kristoff had had enough of watching the girl he loved hurt herself.

"You _know_ me, Anna. You really don't need to do this to prove it." He pulled her mittens off and cringed at the blisters on her palms. "I liked introducing you to the guys, besides the, well, besides the jokes at my expense, but this is too much. You don't even look happy anymore."

"I want to work with you," she said, setting her jaw stubbornly. "I will prove that I'm your equal, just like Countess-"

"I'm really starting to hate this countess."

She crossed her arms.

"Because you don't think I can do it?"

"Because you're already my equal!" He raked a hand through his hair. "You're too good for me, in fact. Ask anyone here, you heard their jokes."

She kicked the pickaxe in frustration, but with the soft leather of her boots, all she managed to do was stub her toe.

"I'm not good at this."

"And that's a good thing!" He wished he could make her understand. "I _like_ that we have different strengths. I like you just the way you are." Jens called his name and he groaned. "Look, stay here. I won't be long. We can talk about this later, when we get you warm."

He kissed her forehead, but the stubborn, unhappy expression on her face warned him that she wouldn't listen.

"I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes," Jens said, whistling as Kristoff returned to his side and picked up the abandoned saw. "You really are courting the princess."

"I told you that months ago."

"Doesn't mean I believed it." Jens grinned. "What does she see in you?"

"Quit it."

"Well, she sees something." Jens wiped his forehead with his sleeve as he and Kristoff sawed faster. "She looks at you the way you used to look at ice."

"Used to?"

"Now you only get that dumbstruck look on your face when you talk about her." He elbowed Kristoff in the ribs. "It's nice to know that you're human."

"Elsa likes ice and she's human," Kristoff muttered.

Jens cocked his thumb at Kristoff and shouted to Eirik.

"Do you hear this? He's on a first-name basis with the queen."

Kristoff glared at both of them. He was not about to explain his friendship with Elsa.

"Can we just finish this, please? Anna's cold."

"I like her," Jens said.

"So do I," Eirik added.

"Yes," Kristoff grumbled, "you made that very clear."

He pushed his saw back into the ice and focused on cutting in a straight line. The rhythmic motion and the satisfying scrape of metal slicing through ice soothed him as it always did. The tension in his shoulders slowly unknotted as he lost himself in the task, as familiar to him as breathing.

When Anna shrieked, it didn't register at first. Jens and Eirik tossed their tools aside and started running, water splashed from one of the holes they'd cut that morning, and Kristoff's heart dropped to the pit of his stomach.

He left his saw embedded in the ice and ran, barely hearing the shouts of the men and the crunch of their boots, seeing nothing but Anna's mittened hands clutching the side of the hole as she struggled to pull herself out of the water.

Eirik reached her first. He hoisted her out in an instant, lifting her easily despite her sopping clothes. As Kristoff, Jens, and a dozen others reached them, Eirik set her gently on her feet a safe distance from the hole.

Her knees wobbled, but Kristoff leapt forward and swept her into his arms before she could fall or anyone else could touch her. He cradled her against his chest, his body shaking as badly as hers.

"_What happened?_"

From the way she flinched, he must have shouted it, but he could barely hear his own voice over the roaring in his ears. She was so cold, so wet, her skin too pale and her lips too blue. He felt nauseous and terrified, all his worst fears and memories converging into this one awful moment. He watched her teeth chatter as she tried to speak.

"H-h-hat," she said. "Andreas lost his hat. S-s-saw it blow into the water. Thought I c-could c-c-catch it."

"You almost died for a _hat?_" He really didn't mean to shout, but he couldn't seem to stop. To his horror, Anna's eyes darted around to take in the size of their audience, then filled with tears. She buried her face in his tunic and cried, clutching him tight. Kristoff swallowed. And to think that two minutes ago, he thought he couldn't possibly feel worse.

Andreas, the leader of the ice harvesters, stepped out of the circle and laid a hand on Kristoff's shoulder.

"She needs a fire," he said, "immediately. And she needs to get out of those wet clothes. Then, hot tea and plenty of it." He squeezed Kristoff's shoulder. "Can you handle that, lad? Or should we do what we can here?"

"No," Kristoff said hoarsely. "No." Andreas's words and Anna's tears managed to break through his panic and rouse him to action. "Sven!" he shouted, relieved when his friend galloped straight to his side.

Eirik held Anna and hoisted her into Kristoff's arms as soon as he climbed onto Sven's back.

"She'll be fine," Eirik said as Kristoff adjusted Anna across his lap. "And you'll be fine, too."

Kristoff nodded, but he wasn't feeling fine at the moment. He felt like one word or touch might break him into a thousand panicked, angry, broken pieces. He yanked on Sven's reins and raced across the ice without saying goodbye. Anna's teeth chattered so loudly that he could hear them over the wind. She vibrated like a hummingbird in his arms.

"W-where are w-w-we going?" she whispered.

"My cabin." He tightened his hold around her waist. "The castle is too far away."

"G-good." She rubbed her icy nose into the warm crook of his neck. "A-at least it's not my h-heart this time."

Kristoff clenched his jaw. He couldn't joke with her, not now.

"If it was, I could kiss you and make you warm again," he said grimly. "But true love won't save you from hypothermia. Or pneumonia."

"I-I'm sorry."

"It was a _hat_," he said angrily, "a stupid hat and you could have died! You could still-" he swallowed, unable to finish the thought.

"I just wanted to d-d-do something together."

"_Well, it didn't have to be that!_"

He regretted shouting again the moment the words escaped his mouth. Anna choked on a sob and buried her face deeper against his chest. He could feel hot tears through the layers of his clothes and felt like the worst villain in the world.

"_Anna_," he said, his voice hoarse with regret. His free hand moved from her waist to hover against her hair. "I'm an idiot. I am so sorry." He sighed and cupped her head. "I'm just scared out of my mind."

She didn't reply, just shivered and held tight to his tunic until they reached the cabin. He jumped down with Anna in his arms and walked inside, remembering another time when he'd carried her like this, terrified that he'd lose her forever. Then, he'd let her go. This time, he wasn't leaving her side.

He laid her down on the bed and crouched by the fireplace, throwing wood inside and lighting it immediately. The cabin was small, it wouldn't take long to warm the entire room. Then he tore off his gloves and damp tunic and returned to Anna. He set her soaked cloak by the fire and knelt on the floor to remove her boots and peel off her wet stockings. Anna helped with her dress and petticoats, her movements stiff and her hands unsteady. Soon, she stood beside the bed in nothing but her shift, her clothes a sodden heap on the floor.

She crossed her arms over her chest and bit her lip, staring down at her bluish toes. Kristoff couldn't bear to see her so uncomfortable, and he hated that it was all his fault. He'd dreamed of undressing her, of watching firelight caress her skin, but it was never supposed to happen like this.

"Here," he said. Feeling desperate to see her warm and happy again, he grabbed one blanket from the bed and spread it before the fire. The rest, he wrapped around Anna, then carried her to the fire and sat with her in his lap. He took her frozen feet in his hands and gently rubbed warmth back into her skin. Anna sighed and leaned against him, eyes closed.

When her shivering subsided and her cheeks glowed pink, only then did Kristoff's heart stop racing.

"I'm sorry," he said softly, because she still hadn't spoken. "I was scared and I-"

Her warm fingertips touched his lips, silencing him.

"I'm sorry, too." She lowered her head. "I should have listened to you."

"Anna, that's not why I'm upset." He tilted her chin up. He needed to get these words right after the mess he'd made earlier. "Do you remember what I told you about my father? About how he died?"

Her expression froze.

"I- I didn't even think about that." She wrapped her arms around his neck and held tight. "You- you had every right to be angry with me."

"_Terrified_," he said. "The word is _terrified_." He pulled back gently so he could look her in the eyes as he spoke. "He slipped in one of the holes. The current pulled under before anyone could reach him. He drowned, trapped beneath the ice." His breath hitched. "Between that memory and the memory of seeing you frozen, of not being able to reach you in time," his voice cracked as his whole body shuddered. "Everything inside me broke, Anna. If I lost you, if I-"

"Shh," she said. She kissed him, soft, comforting kisses across his eyelids and cheeks and lips, kisses that made him shudder and reminded him that she was right here, that she was warm and alive and she loved him. He accepted each one like a starving man, he'd never needed someone's touch so badly. And he needed to tell her that, too.

"I used to think I didn't need anyone," he said. "I thought I could be happy alone, just me and Sven, but I _can't_, Anna," he crushed her tight against him as if he was afraid she'd slip away. "I can't. I need _you_." He closed his eyes, shocked by how much they burned. His emotions felt so raw and frayed, as if he might cry for the first time in years.

"You've changed me," he whispered, "and I can't change back. I will always need you, always love you, always want you, no matter what. And I am going to wring that countess's neck if I ever see her at supper."

Anna's cheeks were wet with tears, but when she laughed, his heart lifted.

"Elsa would scold you," she said. "It's very bad for diplomacy." Her expression softened and she ran her fingers across his jaw. "I need you, too," she whispered. "So much that it scares me sometimes and makes me want to do very silly things to prove it."

"Like ice harvesting?"

Anna blushed, and Kristoff felt absurdly happy to see that warm streak of red across her cheeks and nose.

"I was a spectacular failure."

He tucked a strand of damp hair behind her ear.

"No. You were a spectacular success at being Anna." He kissed her lips before she could protest. "You charmed every man you met, you made them smile. And I felt so proud that you were mine, that you love me."

"I do," she said, with all the sincerity of a vow. "No matter what."

He exhaled, a long, satisfied sigh of relief.

"Then can I make a request, please? Next time you want to work together, let's do something safe, something far, far away from ice."

Anna grinned and bit his bottom lip before pulling him into another long, soul-scorching kiss. Kristoff assumed that meant "yes."

Three days later, he stared at the sugar-spangled princess beside him and laughed.

"You have flour in your hair," she said, laughing with him in the warm castle kitchen surrounded by the worst mess two people could possibly make.

"And you have sugar on your nose," he replied.

"Do I?" Anna swayed back on her heels. "Perhaps you should lick it off."

Kristoff smiled. Her sweet, exaggerated attempts at flirtation only made him love her more.

"If I do_ that_," he said, trailing a finger across her cheek, "we'll never finish these cookies, and Cook will tell all the kitchen staff "I told you so." She's probably out making bets right now."

Anna wrinkled her nose, her mouth scrunching into that determined expression he secretly adored.

"I don't know why she made such a fuss," she said. "Just because I've never baked before, and you've never baked before-"

Kristoff grinned at the table before them. It was splattered with flour, sugar, egg, melted chocolate, even butter. Somehow, they'd still managed to get most of the ingredients into the bowl and then onto a baking sheet.

"Doesn't mean we don't work well together," Kristoff finished. He stood behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. She settled back against his chest with a contented hum and gently stroked his forearm.

"Do you think they'll turn out?" she asked, nervously eyeing the oven on the other side of the kitchen.

"Even if they don't," he kissed the top of her head, "I'll still eat every one."

"Kristoff?" she asked after a long moment.

"Hmm?" He rested his chin on her head and closed his eyes. It felt so good just to hold her.

"We make a good team."

He spun her around to face him, smiling at the trust on her face, no worries in sight, just beautiful, buoyant Anna, the girl he knew he'd love forever, burnt cookies and all.

"_And_," she said, tracing the answering smile on his face, "we always will."

He believed her, of course, but what made his heart soar, what made him pick her up and spin her around the kitchen, was that she finally believed herself.

~*~ THE END ~*~


End file.
